Action Report: Bettors show love for Patrick Cantlay, Rory McIlroy ahead of BMW Championship

Fresh off near misses at the first FedExCup Playoffs event, Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy are attracting plenty of attention with bettors ahead of the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club.

While Lucas Glover’s form tops the list following victories in two straight weeks on the PGA TOUR, it is Cantlay and McIlroy who are expected to surge just outside Chicago.

Cantlay lost in a playoff to Glover last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, while McIlroy finished T3 and has logged eight straight top 10 finishes since the PGA Championship.

So, it’s no surprise these two are the most popular golfers this week at the BetMGM online sportsbook.

As of Wednesday, Cantlay has the highest handle (12.58%) on the second-most tickets (6.2%), while McIlroy has the second-highest handle (12.55%) on the most tickets (8.3%).

Cantlay is +1000 to win, while McIlroy is +700 after opening at +750.

There isn’t much course history to go on since Olympia Fields has only hosted one PGA TOUR event since 2003 – the 2020 BMW Championship. It has hosted two PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens in its history, so it will have a major championship-like feel.

Both Cantlay and McIlroy finished T12 in 2020.

It is worth noting that Cantlay has won this event the last two years, although it was at a different course each time. He won last year at Wilmington Country Club and two years ago at Caves Valley.

Meanwhile, Jon Rahm won the 2020 event at Olympia Fields, so he has course history on his side. He’s another popular play, drawing the third-highest handle (10.9%) on the third-most tickets (6%).

Rahm is +1000 to win this week.

Current Handle & Tickets

Handle

1. Patrick Cantlay – 12.58%
2. Rory McIlroy – 12.55%
3. Jon Rahm – 10.9%
4. Scottie Scheffler – 10.7%
5. Viktor Hovland – 7.8%

Tickets

1. Rory McIlroy – 8.3%
2. Patrick Cantlay – 6.2%
3. Jon Rahm – 6%
4. Tommy Fleetwood – 5.6%
5. Viktor Hovland – 5.4%

At +1600, Viktor Hovland is another player getting solid action, which isn’t a surprise given his success at majors this season. He rebounded from a poor opening round in Memphis to finish T13.

Cameron Young (+4000), Cantlay and McIlroy are BetMGM’s biggest liabilities for the week.

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